The Chinese Commerce Ministry is funding a series of pilot projects to assess the feasibility of large-scale shrimp farming in northern Africa, SeafoodSource reports.

A group of experts from the China Academy of Fishery Sciences went to Tunisia recently to assess and advise on the local technical capacity for a large-scale shrimp farm, according to a statement from the academy.

The technical feasibility study group, led by the academy’s deputy chairman, Liu Ying Jie, met officials from the Tunisia Ocean Research Institute (INSTM) and the country’s Aquaculture Technical Centre (CTA) to discuss technology and disease prevention and cure methods, the source said.

The Tunisian project is part of a broader series of demonstration sites for aquaculture in northern Africa being funded by China’s Commerce Ministry, the academy’s statement said.